I played little league baseball between the ages of 9-14. Dad's Optimist club put together four different leagues from tee ball on forward, ending at age 15. This formed the entirety of my athletic career-- I never played any school ball or anything. I went to big enough schools to where I could blend in and be as anonymous as I wanted. It contrasts with some of the schools whose games I covered in Kansas, where the graduating classes often didn't exceed 15 and every kid played every sport.
I didn't play tee ball, but I jumped in as a nine-year old in 1981 with the Tigers, in the Midget league, for nine and ten-year old kids. I recall not being very good on this team, which finished fourth out of eight and was coached by Jack Adler, who I know was an Optimist later on, but I don't remember if he was at this time.
I stayed on the Tigers the next year, and we got beat down a lot, losing by 30 runs a lot of the time. I think I played well on this team-- I hit well and was a catcher for the only time in my life, since there was a left-handed catcher's mitt. I even remember pitching and not being able to find the strike zone and our coach telling me to roll the ball to the plate. Needless to say, it wasn't a good year.
In 1983 I moved to the frosh league Red Sox, for 11 and 12-year olds. I played a little first base and right field. The next year, I played for the Indians. This started out as a good team, but our coach got busted using an ineligible player, and told us he was 'going on leave' after he got caught. So there was much disarray. But we stuck together and won a few games toward the end of the year. We did poorly in the standings, but we were proud of those two wins.
I played first base on this team, and I hit the ball pretty well that year. One play stays in the memory banks-- a time where I hit one into the gap right-center and took off. I was a chunky lad and was running out of gas coming around second base. I took the turn at third and drew a throw to the plate halfway there. They threw to third to try and catch me, but threw it away. I was gassed and would have been happy to stay at third, but I loaded up my piano and headed home, not so much sliding into home as collapsing on it, exhausted.
The next league up was the soph league, for kids ages 13-14-15. I played on the Giants as a 13-year old, basically with many of the same guys as were on the Red Sox. This was a league championship team, beating the Angels in three games. That Angels team had the famous Camet boys, who were roughly nine feet tall and could hit a ton. I played right field and a little second base, as I was going through a bit of a Ryne Sandberg phase. But I noticed that when I played second base I hit in the two hole, and I batted ninth when I played right. So I stayed in the outfield.
Next season, 1985, I was an Angel, with the same coach as the guy who started off as our coach with the Indians two years prior. I think we took second this season, behind many of my former Giants teammates. I never really understood how to lock in and focus as a ballplayer, until my last at bat, a ground out to second base. I guess I saw how fast those guys were pitching and just freaked out.
I chose not to play as a 15-year old, opting to umpire tee ballers back at Franklin Field, where it all started. But that's another story for another time.
